A group of six Zambian children are traveling the United States to raise money and support for their school in Kitwe, Zambia.

The group made a stop in Pontiac Tuesday to perform multiple musical numbers for Rotary members and their guests to showcase what the partnership between Rotary International and Lifesong for Orphans has done for them.

Wayne Steffen, orphan advocate and liaison to Zambia, explained how the pairing worked for the Lifesong School in Kitwe.

“They have a system set up where they write international grants but they have to have a sponsoring club in the country that they are working with, so they have come up with a Rotary Club in Kitwe, Zambia, that has just been fantastic to work with. Together, they are writing international grants for our Lifesong countries,” he explained.

The Pontiac Rotary also got the Gilman Rotary involved and in turn, the Gilman Rotary wrote an international grant for a computer lab at the school, which Steffen said is “fabulous.”

“Rotary is just a small part of our gifting. One hundred percent of all our donations to Lifesong for Orphans go to caring for the children. No administrative costs are — or ever will be — deducted from the part of the donation gifts. All the U.S. and world fundraising and administrative costs are paid for by the Lifesong and Watershed Foundation by us. When we get requests, I think our biggest thing is how much is taken off the top by the different groups, where, with us, 100 percent of the gifting goes to work for the kids,” Steffen explained.

The students, Emmanuel, Moses, Pauline, Peter, Gift and Lyness, came to the United States in the beginning of November and have multiple stops, performing for audiences and hoping to get others involved.

“We brought these kids over from Zambia. They are students in our school there and they are touring the central part of the country, doing concerts and fundraising for Lifesong for Orphans,” he explained.

Lifesong for Orphans is a program that a Gridley man started.

“When Gary Ringger (president and CEO of Ringger Foods) sold his food business in Gridley, he made a commitment that he would use that income for kingdom purposes. He started Lifesong for Orphans. Another portion of that money went to start Watershed Foods, which is our business part of Lifesong for Orphans. Some of their profits come back to Lifesong to fund our mission. The Watershed Foods is a company that freeze-dries fruits for about 20 different customers across the U.S. That includes the freeze-drying of strawberries for Kellogs that you can see on your breakfast table. Part of that profit comes back to fund Lifesong for Orphans, which we’re very proud of,” Steffen said, adding, “It’s a very unique setup in the mission field.”

Page 2 of 2 - Lifesong for Orphans currently has locations in seven countries.

“We are serving more than 2,500 children and we’ve just helped place our 3,012th child,” he said.

The Rotary’s part in this is extensive. It does work in the U.S. and also has a lot of international projects, to which Steffen is very appreciative.

“Rotary plays their part in helping us in what they do. Rotary is worldwide. They write international grants in many countries and are helping around the world, so they have been a huge helper, especially the Pontiac Rotary, for us,” he said.

The six Zambian students, who are bilingual, speaking both English and Bantu, have enjoyed their trip to the United States.

“They have been to many places in the country already. They started in Washington, D.C. They’ve since been to Nashville, Florida, Dallas, Chicago, West Lafayette and Georgia. They’ve covered the country, giving concerts and putting the Lifesong name up on the marquee. They came here Nov. 6 and will be returning to Zambia Dec. 27,” he said.

Of all the things they could see or experience in the U.S., there’s one thing they can all agree upon.

“One of their main wishes is that they want to see snow. It’s so cute. They were in Milwaukee and they had flurries up there and they were catching handfuls of snow so they could see what it felt like,” Steffen said. “They have just been delightful and well-behaved children. They are caring, they recognize the advantages they have been given and they are taking full opportunity of the situation.”

Lori Fairfield, president of the Pontiac Rotary, said she really enjoyed having the students in Pontiac and is happy of the work that Rotary has done in its collaboration with Lifesong for Orphans.

“What it showcased for us was the great international relationship we have. With our collaboration with Wayne’s group, we were able to get them a lot of different grants through Rotary that has helped their cause considerably,” Fairfield said. “We’ve had people go over there a couple of times and it’s a very successful program when you see that you can help people in other countries. We do a lot of local things but this is part of Rotary International.”

To learn more about Lifesong for Orphans, visit www.lifesongfororphans.org.